A bid of €135 million has been made for the factories of the bankrupt Estonian company ‘E-Piim Tootmine’

An offer of 135 million euros has been made for the Paidje and Peltsama plants of the Estonian dairy processing company “E-Piim”. It is believed that this price was offered by the Saudi Arabian conglomerate “BinDawood Holding”, whose CEO visited Lithuania this week, reports the website “Verslo žinios”, citing the Estonian business publication “Aripaev”.

On 7 August, when the “E-Piim” auction began, “BinDawood Holding” registered the company “Just & Jubn“ in Estonia.

The company „E-Piim“ was put up for auction with a starting price of 88 million euros. According to the website, the official winner has not yet been announced.

Lithuanian companies “Rokiškio sūris”, “Vilvi Group” and “Belvederis” had all expressed an interest in the factories, but did not take part in the auction.

The head of “BinDawood Holding”, CEO Ahmad BinDawood met with Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius and Minister of Agriculture Kęstutis Mažeika on Thursday.

As reported by BNS, A. BinDawood stated at the time that the company was considering options to invest in a new factory in Lithuania or to purchase food products from Lithuanian companies, and emphasised that the group was particularly interested in Lithuania’s dairy sector.

The minister stated that the company was also considering the possibility of acquiring a share of the country’s milk processing capacity. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister promised to help the company find solutions to implement its plans.

“E-Piim” bankruptcy administrator Indrek Lepsoo (Indrek Lepsas) told the publication „Aripaev“ that the winner’s name would be announced once the deadline for submitting any objections had passed and the transaction had been finalised.

Creditors decided that the company’s commercial activities must continue during the bankruptcy period, as this is the best way to ensure the preservation of assets. In view of this, the production units of „E-Piim Tootmine“ operated at up to 30 per cent of capacity, whilst the Peltsama packaging plant – at full capacity, as the priority was to provide services to retail customers. During the bankruptcy proceedings, the company made timely payments to milk producers and other partners.

“Operational factories, a strong team and a well-coordinated milk supply system provide the best conditions for the new owner to start utilising the assets more quickly,” – commented the insolvency administrator, Olevas Kuklasė.

According to Antti Orava, managing director of “E-Piim Tootmine”, the final auction price showed that the decision to keep the factories operational was the right one.

“This price didn’t surprise me all that much; I expected it to be significantly higher than the starting price, as you can’t build factories like these for 80 million euros. The amount offered also showed that the decision to keep production going during the bankruptcy period was the right one“, he said.

The new “E-Piim Tootmine” cheese factory in Paidje – one of the most modern in Europe – can process up to 1,200 tonnes of raw milk daily. In 2023, the company exported more than 90 per cent of its output. The company currently employs 180 people. In addition to the factory in Paide, the company has production facilities in Peltsama and Jarva-Jani.